Jason Calacanis Says TSLA's Optimus Will Eclipse AAPL's iPhone, Predicts 1 Billion Robots By 2036

Venture capitalist Jason Calacanis has issued an ultra-bullish long-term forecast for Tesla Inc., predicting that its humanoid robot Optimus will become the greatest product ever created and surpass Apple Inc.'s iPhone in total value. Calacanis projected that 1 billion Optimus robots will exist worldwide by 2036, stating that Tesla's hardware and artificial intelligence capabilities remain significantly ahead of global rivals following demonstrations at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. To accommodate robotics manufacturing, Tesla is repurposing its former Model S and Model X production lines at its Fremont factory, having officially ended production for both vehicle models. The company has allocated more than $20 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, targeting an ultimate capacity of 1 million robots annually in Fremont before expanding into Texas. However, CEO Elon Musk and skeptics like Ross Gerber have cautioned that scaling humanoid robot production requires establishing an entirely new supply chain, suggesting that initial volume ramp-ups will remain slow.